Card-catalogue.



l PATBNTBD MAR. 13, 1906.-

H. F. MOSSES.

VGARD CATALOGUE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 17. 1905.

INI/ENTO fzo HENRY .F.MQSSES; 'or' Bo'SToN, MASSACHUSETTS.

\ mma-i110.

ASpecification of Letters, Patent. i' Patented, March 13, 190,6... Applicaties fled Aprii 17, 190,5. serial No. zaase.; i

l 3e it-knownthat l, HENRY FlMossEs, res'ldlng at Boston, inthe county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have L invented .certain'lmprovements in `Card 'Cata-logues, of which theollowi-ngis a speciiication.

y l, The present linvention relates .to ,card-cata.- logues, both tothe cardand to the box in which'it is held.. flfft .is Well understoodthat inthecommon apparatus for this purpose the rectangularcards @are placed in a; box .or drawer and are strun :uponlone or more .rods which "pass through ttclle'iiront .of the .box and are screwed into a nut inlthe front end ofthe away Jfrom' the cards :in .order thatft'he cards maybe rbent bac1 ,s o ,that 'thewriung thereon may be seen, .and ,is ,also slid ,backward Yin ore der. hata .card maybe removed Jromtl'ie box,

the 'rod having been ,'unscreweol-y and with# drawn 'in order'that the card mayzbereleased. .Tllhe `4apparatus referred toposse'sses Vdisads'f' ntfagesffwhichfitf :is the I 1105 ect of my inve tion t'ofjavoid. An'importa'n't disadvantageis that las', .the cards vcannot be .bent backward very far itis extremely difficult to read the infor]'nationthereom and in order to'add any new .inforrnation the card must .be removed and ,placed upon'sorne =levelsupport todo so, andthe cards are thus subject .to displacement and loss, and as the rod-s are-easily ref moved cards may be abstracted b unauthorizediersons and a record muti ated or destroye i In .carrying out my invention I provide thus ldrawnup ,and bent y.down uponthe-top of saidgattachment and said information writ- .teil upon-it.

''lvheinvention lalso consstsof Certain de tal'sand improvements, which Iwll-now Spro- A. @eed to describe, andpointout inthe appendgeclcblaiins.Y p l 'In thedrwingswhichfillustrate .the inventonfFg-ure :1 is .a plan vview of box or sraveashwieeiheinventolle .Fia T2 isla section on linea: xof Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a section on line y y of Fig. 2. Figs. 4 and 5 are respectively Side andl edge views of my irnproved card. Fig. 6 is a lfront view of the rodelockingwdevice detached from the box; Fig. 7 is Van enlar ed sideview of the endA of a rodV to show the ocking device. Fig. 8 is a thefrod passes', and Fig.` 9 isa cros'ssectionoi 6o Jf'ront view of the escutcheon through which a box without a midway longitudinal `por-V tion. V

Referring.. to the drawings,v A represents a box or drawer made of woodwith a frontpart 1 yand arear part 3,- to which .are mortisev the side pieces f2 I2, and eis an inverted .troughlike card-support midway .of .the .boxfand mortised in to the rfront and rear Vends there.- fof and'consists of .the top or floor pieces of wood 7 ,7, separated by a space'Sfandthe two Side pieces 16 16. Extending longitudinally through Ythe box near its .u vs flrods 5 5, rovided Vont e external Viront with the thurmA buttons 41,having'knurledfpe-V ripheries. The opposite ends of the rods 'exp'pe'r part are the' tendinto holes 6 inthe rear 1Ipart of t'h'e'bx.

Adjacent to the buttons L1 t ereis a spline 17 on the `end of the rods 5, having a notch f 8o l midway ofthe same. The 'rod in .en-terin' the box passes through hole 19 ina lnieta escutche'on 18, secured tothe face of the end 1 thereof. l This hole hasan elongation 20 on its lower side in which Vthe `spline 17 its, and thus prevents the rod romturning.

- Th front end piece 1 1s made of two pieces of wood a,y and l), secured to each other, .and thev piece a is hollowed out to receive alock c, Whose bolt d is elongated to reach,under the two rods 5, so that when the key is turned in thelofck the bar wi 1l'- pass v"upward into their notches f f and secure the rods fromv being withdrawn. The card-follower g is perfo--A rated in order that it may slidereely on the rods 5 5, as shown, and its lower 'side iscut away, -so that it will ,straddle'the midway portion e and restthereon, whileiits wings 21 will extend downward Vbetween the walls ofl the box andthe said midway portion. A

hole lis bored through thel follower gv and c'en i tral thereof and counterbored ,at yits upper endto receive the rod 9 which issrew-thread- Vedto receive the nut 1 3 .y Theupper end oi' the rod has-ahead 10, betweenwhich and the bottorn of the counterboredpartfis the spring s,

which keeps the follower g in any position it is placed by frictional or spring pressure as the rod 9 passes freely in the space 8. By depressing the head 10 the nut is forced away from the pieces or iioor T 7, so that the follower may be moved backward or forward.

Secured to the inner face of the end part b is ametal spring-plate 22, bent rearward, as shown, between which and the follower gis a stack B of cards. Each card y' is made, as shown by Figs 4 and 5, with its lower central part cut out to fit over the midway portion e and having dependin sides or wings 15 15 between the walls of tlie box and the said portion f, which are bent rearward on the line 14 and when in the stack B are held between the spring 22 and the inclined wings 21 of the follower g. On each end of the cards are long slots 13, extending nearly across the card, which slots are so proportioned that when in position upon the rods 5 5 they will not rest upon the rods in order that no strain shall come upon the cards. The cards are made in one piece of even thickness, as indicated, and when bent rearward on the line 14 remain in that position permanently, so that when they are bent farther over, as hereinafter described, to write upon them they are not fractured. I strengthen the cards by pasting upon their backs a thickness 23 of preferably some absorbent material to serve as an ink-blotter, so that cards freshly written may not be blurred.

I prefer to load the box with a suitable number of cards, to which others may of course be added, and then lock them in place,

and when writing is to beY made upon a cardv the follower g is loosened and moved backward, as explained, and an attachment 7L (shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3) is placed upon the top of the box to serve as a table; This attachment h is made from thin board, with one end 12 thicker than the remainder, to serve as a guide. In the centerof the board is a slot i, extending from the offset of the end 12 to the opposite edge, where its sides round outward, and one side of the slot is beveled, as 25. The slot i is placed over the card to be drawn up, so that it will come up therethrough, asshown in Fi 2, where the follower gis represented in otted lines and the attachment in position over the same, while the card (shown in dotted lines) is represented as drawn up through the slot i until the lower ends of the slots 13 13 strike the under side of the rods 5 5 and the card is laid flat up on the top of the attachment h, in which position it can be written upon.

It will be seen that the bending of the card upon the line 14 assists materially in placing it in the position for writing, and when the attachment h is withdrawn the card can be easily slid back into position and the follower g brought forward.

It will be seen that any card can be readily removed from the box by unlocking and withdrawing the rods, as in the ordinary box. At the same time the advantages of the invention are evident.

The invention is entirelyworkable when the cards are provided with but one rod 5 and one slot 13, but is smoother in operation when two rods and cards with two slots are employed.

Fig. 9 represents the cross-section of a box without the midway portion e, the cards being a complete rectangle and having a central slot 13, through which passes a rod 5, the lower part of the cards 14 being bent rearward, while the rod 9, which holds the follower in position, is in a slot in the box-bottom, as will be readily seen.

I claim as my invention- 1. A card adapted for use in a card-catalogue with a perforation for the retainingrod, its rear side reinforced with absorbent or blotting material, and its lower edge bent rearward, as set forth.

2. A card adapted for use in a card-catalogue with perforations for the retaining-rods, its central lower part cut out, the remaining ends or wings bent rearward, and its rear side reinforced, as set forth.

3. In a card-catalogue, a box or drawer with a longitudinal midway raised floor having a central opening or sp ace, a movable perforated block or follower having its lower central part cut out and resting upon the said floor and its sides or wings extending downward and their front faces inclined rearwardly, provided with frictional means for grasping the said ioor, a stack or plurality of cards between the front of the box and the said block each card having elongated perforations at its sides and the lower central portion cut away and resting upon said fioor and the sides or wings extending downward and inclined toward the wings of said block, and rods passing through the ends of the box threading the perforations of the cards and of the block, with means for locking the said rods to the front end of the box.

4. In a card-catalogue, a box or drawer consisting of a stack or plurality of cards, each having elongated perforations at its ends, rods extending longitudinally through the box and threading through said perforations, a detachable device consisting of a thin board or table having a slit inward from one end, the opposite end provided with a stop or abutment, `adapted to extend across the top of said box over said cards, as set forth.

5. A card adapted for use in a card-catalogue made in one piece of even thickness IOO IIO

oor of the oard-holder, and t e remaining ends or Wings creased and permanently bent rearward, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my v name to this speoiioation, in the presence of tWo subscribing Witnesses, this 14th-day of to April, 1905.

HENRY F. MOSSES.

' Witnesses: Y

JOHN L. MANNING, GEO. WILLIS 'PIERGE. 

